Following council vote, Maui’s former emergency head may have to pay his own legal fees

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Nearly four months after the Maui wildfires, anger over the handling of the emergency — and the dislocation of fire evacuees — continues to boil over at the Maui County Council.

At its meeting Friday, council members expressed their frustration by denying a legal defense to a former emergency official. Herman Andaya left his job as director of the Emergency Management Agency after being off-island during the fires and deciding not to use emergency sirens to encourage evacuation.

On Friday, West Maui Council member Tamara Paltin revealed a recent email in which Andaya invited Mayor Richard Bissen to a fundraising for the civil air patrol.

“We would like to offer Mayor Bissen a VIP ticket valued at $100 to this event,” Paltin read. “Unethical.”

“And then we have this on our agenda. Super unethical,” she continued.

Friday’s agenda included a measure that would provide a local attorney and defense for Andaya — usually an automatic process for government workers who are sued.

But the issue drew opposition from the public, including Maui resident Jackie Keith.

Special Section: Maui Wildfires Disaster

“I just think that when you make a mistake, you need to be held accountable and having us taxpayers pay for his mistakes is not accountability,” Keith said.

The council rejected the Andaya resolution by a narrow 5-to-4 vote.

“it just isn’t palatable to be paying lawyer’s fees,” Paltin said. “Until the investigations have totally cleared this individual from any wrongdoing.”

But Councilmember Tasha Kama objected: “When I was younger, really younger, I learned that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”

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Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura pointed out that the policy of providing a defense for county employees during lawsuits could impact any of them if they make controversial decision that draw lawsuits.

“I think there’s a responsibility that we have, as policymakers, we cannot come from hate,” Sugimura said. “We have to come from being rational to take this up.”

Even though the vote blocked the resolution from being officially referred to a committee, councilmembers said Andaya’s defense would still be discussed in committees.

Also top of mind was the frustration over the continued relocations of fire evacuees.

As hotel contracts expired this week, the American Red Cross said it relocated 325 households from the Westin and 61 from the Honua Kai in West Maui. Sources said most have been moved to a hotel in Kahului, with some families with small children allowed to stay and some households refusing to leave at all.

Leslee Matthews, who assisted evacuees during their repeated moves, said there is an urgent need for mental health assistance for those grappling with so much loss.

“I spoke with a lady yesterday who found a suicide note from her 17-year-old daughter who was a fire survivor,” she said. “This not having permanent housing is having a negative impact.”

With more hotel contracts expiring in the next few weeks, agencies are scrambling to recruit short term rentals for 18-month leases to house evacuees in stable and furnished homes before Christmas.